Refrigerated open top compartment



Feb. 23, 1954 Filed NOV. 14, 1951 R. H. BISHOP REFRIGERATED OPEN TOP COMPARTMENT Jays.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

HTTORNEVS' Patented Feb. 23,my 1954 UNITED `STATES FATENT OFFICE l. i `j 2,669,850 .ff i REFRIGERATED OPEN TOP COMPARTMENT i lRobert H. Bishop, Champaign, Ill. Application November 14, 1951, Serial No. 256,203 3 Claims@ (Cl. GIZ-89.5)

Y This invention relates to a commercial refrigeration system. More particularly it relates to an apparatus for dehumidifying and cooling a gaseous coolant, and an apparatus for distributing the coolant over materials to be refrigerated, and then recirculating it for further cooling and distribution. It especially relates to an improved frozen food display cabinet.

l1The'adequate display of frozen foods is an important matter. Heretofore these have been arranged in refrigerated bins or boxes, open from above and generally divided into sections, the dividers containingr cooling coils. Some have used circulating cold air for refrigeration. All have required defrosting at intervals of three to six hours with the result that foods in storage may -become partially thawed and thus change in quality. Many of these require drainage lines for the water resulting from melting the frost.

The present invention provides a means whereby defrosting need be done but once in 24 hours, and eliminates the need for drainage. It provides an apparatus whereby coolant air is dehumidied and then cooled to refrigerating temperatures with high eniciency and without substantial change in cooling eiiiciency over long periods of time. It provides an apparatus in which the visual display of goods is increased with no decrease in cooling eiciency. It eliminates dividers in food compartments, as well as `need for defrosting the food compartment itself. It provides uniform distribution of coolant air at all times without overflow from the open box.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation in partial section. showing certain elements in diagrammatic form. This is taken along line I-I of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is an end elevation in partial section along the line 2-2, of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan view along the line 3-3 of Fgure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view in partial section along the line 4-4 of Fgure 1, showing the arrangement of cooler coil elements, air circulation therethrough, and cooling fin arrangement.

Figure 5 is a front section of the coolingcoil. Referring to Figure l, IIJ represents a conventlonalinsulated box which, for purposes of convenience, is partially shown in Figure 1, and morev completely shown in Figure 3. The interior wall is designated throughout as II. The box or cabinet is divided into upper storage compar'tment A (shown in plan View in Figure 3) and the lower or mechanical compartments B and and Care insulatedv andisolated from compartment A except for communicating vducts I2 and I3 for supplying cool air from compartment B to compartment A, and returning it to compartment B during the refrigeration cycle. Compartments B and C are insulated and isolated from each other except during defrosting periods. At such times compartments A and IB are isolated from each other by any suitable means. Any suitable conventional means for defrosting may be used.

With defrosting only once each day,` the dei frost cycle occurs during the night period. An insulated night cover is placed over the food compartment preventing any change of dangerous increase in food product temperature during the relatively short period during which the cooling coil is being defrosted.

The water accumulating in drip pan I6 ilows through line Il to evaporator pan I8, in which are sections of porous stones I9. These absorb the water and provide surface for its evaporation by the air from the compressor fan.

Above the insulation 2li and 2I is a plate 22, separating compartment A from B and C. Above this is the food compartment oor 23, which is supported by a plurality of short sections or clips of channel iron 24. The end walls 25 and back wall 26 are of sheet metal and are spaced inwardly from the box walls II. Front wall 2l, which is of glass Thermopane, is spaced inwardly from the glass Thermopane front wall 28 of the box. This provides visual inspection of the contents of the box, not only from the top as is usual. but from the front as well. The spaces between the exterior and interior walls, and between the floor 23 and plate 22, form a duct for return of cold air to cooling coil I5 by way of duct I3, as will be more fully explained hereinafter.

The back Wall 2S is spaced inwardly from wall Il, forming a longitudinal duct 29 communicating directly with the manifold 3S, into which duct I2 from the cooling coil I5 opens.

In duct 29 Aare a series of thin sheet metal dividers 3|, generally spaced about 2.5 inches apart. Between these and in the upper wall of duct 30, are slots or orifices 32, through which. the incoming air must pass into duct 29. The purpose of these slots 32 is to distribute the air equally along the back of the box. The dividers: serve to provide an equal, parallel, vertical new of air, so that the air supply to the storage compartment is always uniform throughout the entire length. These are important and vital features of the con struction. Over the top of wall 26 and extend ing-somewhat into duct 29 for its full length', isa

flow into and across the box is uniform, ,as indicated by the direction arrows. The air ows into the duct at the ends and frontfiof thei-boxiandfis returned to the cooling coil to be further refrigerated. The walls of the box, Ii and v28;fexter`1d about 3 to 4 inches higher than walls` 25. and 2l. When observing the unit in operation, the blanket of air is easily seen, because of the light frostV cloud that forms where the warm air of the room meet'sthe cold, yflowing'airin thezbox. The-air iowing'across the top of the box notfonly cools the food packages,- l but insulates :them lfrom the warm air. Temperatures of 16 to MZOQ'IF; lcan be maintained with no dilculty at the' tcp` of walls` 25 and 2l, even on Vthe hottest days. :There is no spill-over of coldair from the box. The glass panels y2l and 28,' 'and the `walls 25,'` asl well asftheinterior of. the box; remainv free of ffrost. At night the box is generally covered,in order to'conserve power. vv`When the cover is removed, there maybe arfaintlfrost fog formed on the glass, but --th-isdissipateswithin a short time,V asA the volume of air increases. to compensate Ifor .the increasedarefrigeration needs.

.-It will-be observed that the food compartment is not only blanketed by, but surrounded by, cold airon all sides.

The cooling `unit 1151s bestillustrated in Figures 4 and 5. 4Itcomprisesa fan 36, driven lay-motor 31. .The cooler itself isof unique-construction and extremely ei-cient A continuous pipe coil, generally of copper tubing, .is housed.- in .l `39. Headers 491jointhe pipe lengths and .extendrom the-.housing to.-within-a short. distance. of the inner-walls: ot'compartment B. Only a.:few..of

these -are illustrated, for f convenienca. although..

in a commercialunitthere maybe several hundred offthem. Theyconstitutea rprime surface` overwh/ich the air returning-fromV the foodcompartment must pass to reach ian 3S. itis here that the major part of .the vfrost deposits. The purpose of these exposedreturn bendsfis to.ac cumulate therwater vapor from the air and `tlf-ius. dehumidify it. The CoolingI joli is, done :inside the unit. The coil housing; 3a .isr divided into three compartments D, Eand F,by .partitions 4l and 42, with pipes 38. extending-therethrough. The pipes are equippedwithns 43 running. parallel with .the air-flow, the tubes-.andfns forming a bundle. `The fins are most widelyaspacediin compartment D, usually threeto the inch. ...In compartment.l!` they are more. closely.,spaced, about fourtotheinch, and invcompartmentrF theyare `still closer together,aboutiivey to .the inch. `.This is-animportant feature, .since-.it ac counts forlthe long periods of operation between defrosting, with cooling eiliciency and air capacity being maintainedl at a high level. .It-.is ine-dect, a four passsystem; a preliminary .predefrosting on headers 4B, cooling and urtherdefrostingin compartment. D Where the fins are. widelyspaced toprevent cutting vdown air capacity. as Atheirost accumulates. A similar eiect is obtainedincom-,-

par-tment E, where less frost accumulatesandf.

"frosted at intervals of 3 to 8 hours.

more cooling occurs because of the increased surface. Finally, the air is supercooled in compartment F where the greatest cooling surface exists, and it then passes through duct I2 to the food compartment as previously described. Compartment D is joined to compartment E by duct 44, in which is splitter 45, to assure good distribution of air over the coils. Compartment E is joined to compartment F by duct 45, containing splitter.- 41.

"Thisunique cooling unitm'ake's*itpossible to defrost only once a day. Other units must bede- Because of ".theirsconstructionvrand frequent defrosting required, some of the food unavoidably partially thaws.' 'I'he'present cooling unit, and the unique fboxconstructiondescribed above, eliminate thawing, and make possible defrosting at night when the stores (in which these cabinets are used) are closed, and at times when the food compartment can be. covered so-that'` the warm air never reaches 'the doody packages. Moreoven the auniquev construction -of the boxV eliminates allfpartitions therein. In .many refrigerated display-boxes,.the

f, partitions contain refrigeration. coils which; ac-

cumulate frost; and A`which warm v,up .during defrosting periods, with.; consequent-partial- .thawing of food, especially-thatin contact-withsthem.- The vpresent invention-eliminates all this aswell as the. attending disadvantages. l

The :novel evaporation systemeeliminatesfneed for drainconnections. The :top :surface` 48, offelementf 34;.can beiused todisplay accessoryitems. The back-of..the unit can be: extended l upwardly =to provide l additional shelf space vfor such items, andf'canzbe equippedV with the usual reflecting:mirrors.l andiadvertising displays. v

The yactual construction :of the deviceis` .within the skilloo the-aart. `..Metal,joints maycbe welded. The -.Thermopanes are. .itemsz .ofacommerce;l and. mayv be. sealed in. -rubber..or plastic into vtheunit. .'.The compressor. fis-conventional. Bumpers-'49 mayfrun. .around thel cabinset---on three sides. to prevent.. damager'to thefnishiby grocery..carts.-now:-commonlyfused instores. .jDehumidication of the air. vin xthe cooling. unitaaswell; as theuniform airzblanket Vover the. package compartment, not.- on-ly-y tends to,.prev.ent.. depositionfof frost therein,. but to evaporateianpthat may form.

insulation. materials are important, but many efficient 1 insulators are. available. The, elements i9 may be of porous rockfsections.of..fre.brick or-tile, and the. like. Theffront. and.v back of compartment .Cf are equipped .with v'louverstofpermit circulation `ofair aroundthe compressor-.and meV tor to `keep themcool. Y

Doors for ready accessftotheI mechanical :equipment .andscoilsare provided.

An example of some of the operating-conditions .maynbe helpful for understandingithe rinvention. .A1 `unit wasconstructed 84.5, inches long,A 32.5 .incheswide land 6SM/inches highy ..(at..thel back) .thesebeing exterior. dimensions. Thalhterior.length .was 75.5. inches,4 width.23.5. inches. andtheheight .of the. food compartmentwas 19.75 inches. .Theair to.-.manifold.30 .hadiY av .velocity 015400-500 -feet,.throughk orices, 32... 11-80..1.2'20'r feet, through duct 29.300 feet, fromtsplittergl 150 feet, and. across Y`the package. area,. 100 feet, these beinglinear velocitiespenhour. Temperaturesr of .refrigerantsupplied were -30i .'1?.,...anc` at. the. exit.,22!. F. Thel air. temperature.. at. duct'l I2 was "27?. F. 4.Acompressor,.operating.trema one horse power motor was used. Capacities and operating conditions can be varied in units of varying sizes, as will be obvious to one skilled in the art. It is apparent that more than three compartments can be used in the cooling unit.

Element 50 is a ball iloat which seals tube I'l after defrosting is complete and the water has drained from pan I6. The food storage box is removable for periodic cleaning, merely resting on the spacers 24, and at the rear, on manifold 30.

I claim as my invention:

1. A refrigeration system comprising an open top storage compartment and an outer cabinet, the storage compartment being spaced inwardly from the cabinet, a compressor unit, an air cooling unit, housings for each, a manifold communieating with the cooling unit and extending along one side of the cabinet, a vertical duct, a plurality of orices in the manifold, communicating with the duct, vertical dividers in the duct between said orifices, a splitter to direct a portion of the air from the vertical duct downwardly and outwardly through and across the storage compartment, means spaced above the splitter to direct the remaining air downwardly and outwardly through and across the storage compartment, the walls of the cabinet extending above the walls of the storage compartment and spaced outwardly therefrom, means spaced from the bottom of and separating the storage compartment from said housings, thereby forming an annular space between the walls of the cabinet, said last named means, and the walls and bottom of said storage compartment, a, duct from said last named means communicating between the annular space and the cooling unit housing, means to draw air through said annular space, the last named duct and the housing of the cooling unit and to force it through the cooling unit and thence to the manifold.

2. A refrigeration system comprising a normally open-top storage compartment and an outer cabinet, the storage compartment being spaced inwardly from the cabinet, a compressor unit, a blast cooling unit, housings for each, a manifold communicating with the cooling unit and extending horizontally across the entire back of the cabinet, a vertical duct, a plurality of orifices distributed across the entire length of the manifold communicating with the duct, a plurality of verftical dividers spaced equidistant in the duct between said orifices to provide equal, parallel, vertical ilow of air, means to direct the air from the vertical duct outwardly and downwardly through and across the storage compartment, the walls of the cabinet extending above the walls of the storage compartment and spaced outwardly therefrom thereby forming an annular space, the oor of the storage compartment being spaced from .the top wall of said housings, constituting a communicating duct between the annular space and the blast cooling housing, means for drawing air sitioned across the entire length of the rear of the `storage compartment and having a plurality of 25` `a vertical duct with which the orices communiorifices at regularly spaced intervals therealong,

cate, a plurality of vertical dividers spaced equidistant in the duct placed between adjacent oriflces to provide equal, parallel, vertical ow of air. a splitter at the top of the duct to divide the air stream and direct a portion of it downwardly and forwardly through and across the storage compartment, and a deiiector above and extending forwardly of the splitter to direct the remaining portion of the air stream downwardly and forwardly to commingle with the first named portion of the air stream.

ROBERT H. BISHOP.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,524,520 Junkers Jan. 27, 1925 2,047,249 Ballard July 14, 1936 2,255,616 Heasley Sept. 9, 1941 2,466,286 Stultz Apr. 5, 1949 2,511,375 Raskin June 13, 1950 2,626,508 Bently Jan. 27, 1953 

